Director hired to run Georgia’s new medical marijuana program

Georgia’s medical marijuana board has hired its first executive director, Andrew Turnage, a government administrator with experience in licensing.

Turnage will be responsible for the start-up of a program to distribute cannabis oil to patients who are already allowed to use the drug but have no legal way to buy it.

“We have one goal, and that’s to get oil for families in need,” Turnage said in a statement. “We have families in Georgia that have struggled for years to get this basic need, low-THC oil, and our task will be to ensure that they receive it.”

Turnage previously worked as executive director for the Georgia State Board of Cosmetology and Barbers until 2017. He’s currently the intake director for the Georgia secretary of state’s office.

Turnage is also a former deputy sheriff in Hall County. He donated $1,950 to Republican Brian Kemp in 2017 and 2018 when he was running for governor, according to campaign finance records.